Okay so I got a used Dell i5 for a steal (not for me for a family member), it had been reset to factory. If you don't know how this is achieved I'll explain for a moment - two hidden partitions on OEM machines such as this, the first is the regular Windows hidden partition that contains the "recovery environment", and the seconds is the dell factory image for the computer. To reset to factory it just wipes the primary partition (C drive) and copies the contents of this partition into it.
Now it came with Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. EW. There are several ways to get the x64 edition installed. The Microsoft-approved way is to purchase a retail edition of Windows and install that. The more budget-conscious way is to simply use a "retail disc" or a digital river ISO (which Microsoft has now removed just to annoy people, and they won't let OEM users download from their new service) and enter the COA key. You can create a universal disc from any edition of Windows by deleting one file on the ISO (ei.cfg) and then rebuild the disc using cdimage, or make a bootable USB. The third way is to get your hands on a Dell recovery disc for Windows 7 Professional x64, which will install the OEM version of Windows without requiring a product key (the one on the sticker). But just like Microsoft, Dell's recovery media application doesn't work. For two reasons, firstly if you enter the service code it simply reads "your system is out of warranty" and won't allow you to proceed any further, and secondly that form is only for north-American customers anyway. Thanks assholes.
Luckily for me I do happen to have a Dell Windows 7 x64 recovery disk - but it's for a different edition of Windows (Ultimate). One wouldn't expect Win 7 Ult to activate correctly on a machine licensed for Win 7 Pro, but it's worth trying.
This brings me to yet another feature of Windows - product activation. Microsoft's product activation is not too bad, compared with other companies anyway. About 10 years ago I had a friend who bought an expensive piece of commercial software (it was about $600, I think) and it required internet product activation. Despite the fact they had paid for the product, and had a reliable ADSL connection with Telstra, they were unable to activate the product. However unlike Microsoft, they were not able to process product activation on the phone - and ultimately they had their purchase refunded since the product failed to activate. Certainly not what they wanted at all. With many OEM products Microsoft has disabled internet activation and require phone-activation. Again this shouldn't really worry people too much because at least it does work - however you need to enter the COA product key to do so. And that certainly won't activate on the wrong edition of Windows. What many people have however successfully done over the years is phone Microsoft and been offered an upgrade to the edition they installed for a much lower cost than the standard upgrade fee.
But even then it's still a cost that a user shouldn't have to pay - and this is Microsoft's fault for not having a way to lower the edition of a Windows installation to match the product key (it can only be changed in the other direction!) For some users the cost might be worth it - if for example upgrading from Home to Professional. But the upgrade from Pro to Ult has little-to-no benefit for the average home user.
OEM product activation works in a different way to retail. Retail requires phone or internet activation of the product, using the product key whereas OEM does not. It will self-activate using the information in the BIOS and the OEM files on the HDD (supplied either by the hidden partition or the reinstallation media), and it does not require a unique product key to be entered. But it does require a specific OEM product key that matches what is expected in the BIOS. Of course Microsoft doesn't want to just give out free product upgrades, which is what could occur if you could install any edition of Windows 7 on a computer licensed for OEM use.
So I installed from the recovery disk by deleting the primary partition and letting it install fresh. To my surprise it did self-activate using the BIOS SLIC, although why I'm not sure. As I said I always thought that the OEM BIOS SLIC was only valid for one product type.
Now it came with Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. EW. There are several ways to get the x64 edition installed. The Microsoft-approved way is to purchase a retail edition of Windows and install that. The more budget-conscious way is to simply use a "retail disc" or a digital river ISO (which Microsoft has now removed just to annoy people, and they won't let OEM users download from their new service) and enter the COA key. You can create a universal disc from any edition of Windows by deleting one file on the ISO (ei.cfg) and then rebuild the disc using cdimage, or make a bootable USB. The third way is to get your hands on a Dell recovery disc for Windows 7 Professional x64, which will install the OEM version of Windows without requiring a product key (the one on the sticker). But just like Microsoft, Dell's recovery media application doesn't work. For two reasons, firstly if you enter the service code it simply reads "your system is out of warranty" and won't allow you to proceed any further, and secondly that form is only for north-American customers anyway. Thanks assholes.
Luckily for me I do happen to have a Dell Windows 7 x64 recovery disk - but it's for a different edition of Windows (Ultimate). One wouldn't expect Win 7 Ult to activate correctly on a machine licensed for Win 7 Pro, but it's worth trying.
This brings me to yet another feature of Windows - product activation. Microsoft's product activation is not too bad, compared with other companies anyway. About 10 years ago I had a friend who bought an expensive piece of commercial software (it was about $600, I think) and it required internet product activation. Despite the fact they had paid for the product, and had a reliable ADSL connection with Telstra, they were unable to activate the product. However unlike Microsoft, they were not able to process product activation on the phone - and ultimately they had their purchase refunded since the product failed to activate. Certainly not what they wanted at all. With many OEM products Microsoft has disabled internet activation and require phone-activation. Again this shouldn't really worry people too much because at least it does work - however you need to enter the COA product key to do so. And that certainly won't activate on the wrong edition of Windows. What many people have however successfully done over the years is phone Microsoft and been offered an upgrade to the edition they installed for a much lower cost than the standard upgrade fee.
But even then it's still a cost that a user shouldn't have to pay - and this is Microsoft's fault for not having a way to lower the edition of a Windows installation to match the product key (it can only be changed in the other direction!) For some users the cost might be worth it - if for example upgrading from Home to Professional. But the upgrade from Pro to Ult has little-to-no benefit for the average home user.
OEM product activation works in a different way to retail. Retail requires phone or internet activation of the product, using the product key whereas OEM does not. It will self-activate using the information in the BIOS and the OEM files on the HDD (supplied either by the hidden partition or the reinstallation media), and it does not require a unique product key to be entered. But it does require a specific OEM product key that matches what is expected in the BIOS. Of course Microsoft doesn't want to just give out free product upgrades, which is what could occur if you could install any edition of Windows 7 on a computer licensed for OEM use.
So I installed from the recovery disk by deleting the primary partition and letting it install fresh. To my surprise it did self-activate using the BIOS SLIC, although why I'm not sure. As I said I always thought that the OEM BIOS SLIC was only valid for one product type.
For Religion & Health see:[/b][/size] Williams & Sternthal. (2007). Spirituality, religion and health: Evidence and research directions. Med. J. Aust., 186(10), S47-S50. -LINK
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
The WIN/Gallup End of Year Survey 2013 found the US was perceived to be the greatest threat to world peace by a huge margin, with 24% of respondents fearful of the US followed by: 8% for Pakistan, and 6% for China. This was followed by 5% each for: Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, North Korea. -LINK
"That's disgusting. There were clean athletes out there that have had their whole careers ruined by people like Lance Armstrong who just bended thoughts to fit their circumstances. He didn't look up cheating because he wanted to stop, he wanted to justify what he was doing and to keep that continuing on." - Nicole Cooke
